Caring for Spring Bulbs

Most spring-flowering bulb care is helping the plant store energy in the bulb so it will overwinter and bloom again the following year.
As spring bulbs—daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths—finish flowering, remove their faded blooms. Bulbs will exhaust themselves if seeds set within the old blooms, and the plant doesn’t need the seeds anyway. Cut off the dead flower heads, as well as 1 to 2 inches of stem.

Leave the remaining stems and leaves on the plants, as they build up nourishment in the bulbs. The leaves can be removed after they turn yellow and are easily pulled loose.

Rain usually provides sufficient water for spring-flowering bulbs. But they benefit from thorough watering during prolonged dry spells, even after flowering. Apply water as needed while the leaves are still green. Plant annuals among the maturing leaves masking their unattractiveness.

On a hyacinth, remove the small flowers that make up the spike. Do this by running your hand from below the flower cluster to the tip. Leave the flower stem, because it will provide nourishment for the bulb.

Avoid high-nitrogen fertilizers on spring-flowering bulbs. When plants are in bloom, apply about 2 pounds of 5-10-5 or 5-10-10 per 100 square feet. Scratch it into the top inch of soil, avoiding contact with foliage and roots.

Some bulbs and corms multiply freely from self-sown seeds. Unless you want additional plants, deadhead snowdrops, scillas and muscaris! If you don’t, you will have more of them next year.

Cover spring-flowering bulb plantings with 2 to 4 inches of organic material after cold weather arrives in fall. Avoid un-shredded leaves because they can mat down tightly. Remove the mulch in early spring